(Untitled)

[moraldyslexic]

That morning, though he knew he was supposed to head to work on building the latest hut their crew had been assigned, Lennox had taken his dog and a few joints and he'd gone down to the beach instead. Sometimes a guy needed a day of rest, a day just to chill out and let things go before he thought about stupid shit too much and let himself get all

Comments

[playingtheenemy]

Ainsley had smelled him before she saw him and somehow, she'd begun to equate the marijuana smoke with James and somehow, that was just right. She wrapped up her hair in a ponytail as she crossed the distance and stood beside him -- upwind, of course. "Morning, James," she greeted, amiably.

[moraldyslexic]

"Hey," Lennox answered glumly when he looked up and saw Ainsley, his mouth turning up into a faint twitch of a smile. It bugged him a little that he couldn't fake it, not even for her, but he figured maybe that was because she knew him so damn well already and he knew she'd be able to tell he was faking it. "You wanna sit?" he asked.

[playingtheenemy]

Ainsley tilted her head to one side when she saw the look on his face and she sat promptly, resting one hand on his back and rubbing it in slow circles. "What happened?" she asked worriedly.

[moraldyslexic]

"Tom is stupid and thinks that Chris wants to sleep with Mike and that I just fucking... overlook it or some bullshit like that and maybe he doesn't mean it as an insult to me, but it pretty much feels like one," Lennox spewed out in one breath, then looked over at Ainsley gratefully. "How're you?"

[new_ophelia]

"Hey," Kate murmurs as she makes her way through the sand, wearing a fantastically pink new pair of elastic waist shorts. Friggin elastic waist. She's not sure if he's having a moment, but that's never really stopped her before.

[moraldyslexic]

"Hey, Kate," Lennox answered glumly, blowing his pot smoke away from her and into the wind before he nodded at the place beside him in the sand. "How's it going? You wanna sit down or something, man?"

[new_ophelia]

"Mmmhm," Kate says as she lowers herself down. She pauses for a second and looks out over the water. "You seem sad, Jim. You okay?"

[moraldyslexic]

Lennox wrinkled his nose a little and then shrugged and said, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just kind of annoyed at some of the shit that came out when everyone was being all honest. How're you doing, though?"

[chris_cutter]

"Hey," Chris said, walking up behind Lennox with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. Lennox hadn't shown up for work that morning, which wasn't like him, but Chris hadn't worried too much. But, working without Lennox only felt weird anymore and he'd called an early break for lunch to try and find him.

The search had eventually led him to the beach where Hal's playful barks had let him know of Lennox's presence before anything else.

Dropping down into the sand next to his husband, Chris rested back, legs bent at the knee and eyes squinting against the sun. "Crew misses you, man."

[moraldyslexic]

"'Cause I'm such a good worker and everything takes ten times as long without me?" Lennox asked, his mouth curving up into a small smile at the sound of Chris's voice. Maybe he was still kind of pissy, but he wasn't pissed at Chris and it was nice to see him. Maybe he'd take the rest of the day off, too, and they could just hang out and get stoned.

That actually sounded kind of nice and Lennox gave a wistful sigh before he took a hit off his joint and offered it over to Chris.

[chris_cutter]

"Think it's more the comic relief you provide," Chris remarked with a soft grin, resting his weight on one hand as he reached over to take the proffered joint and tucked it between his lips.

He didn't take a very big hit, just enough to soothe his muscles before handing it back, his gaze resting carefully on Lennox. Ever since that bullshit argument with Hobbes, he'd been stepping a little carefully around Lennox, knowing full well they were both thinking about the same thing even if neither of them really wanted to acknowledge it.

"You okay?" he asked finally, figuring they couldn't ignore it forever.

[moraldyslexic]

"Yeah, mostly," Lennox agreed, looking over at Chris so he could see he wasn't lying or anything. "It's all bullshit, I'll get over it. Just kinda bugs me that that's how someone I think of as a good friend thinks of me. Shouldn't, right, man? I mean, shit, I've heard a hell of a lot worse."

He'd been the fuck up of Long Bay until the burned rock. Chris knew that. Eddie and Lily and Neil had all known it, too. They hadn't believed it, he figured, or they would've have been his friends like they were, and he thought that was what mattered. What his friends believed.

Maybe that was why it hurt.

[pambeesley]

Pam was happy that she didn't have the baby when she spotted Lennox smoking on the beach. Remy, leaving Samantha's side for a change and staying with Pam on her walk, immediately bounded forward in favor of practically launching himself into Lennox's lap.

"Remy!" Pam cried, a hint of laughter sneaking out as she ran after him.

[moraldyslexic]

"Whoa," Lennox said with a laugh, raising the joint out of the way of the dog so that he didn't get burned, but he rubbed his ears enthusiastically as Hal noticed him and came running out of the water.

"Pam, you started something really disastrous here," he called out, as he was practically assaulted by two excited dogs. Not that he really minded, as it took his minds off things and made him feel better. It was hard to remain upset when one had two playful dogs in their lap.

[pambeesley]

Pam slowed to a stop just shy of Lennox and the two dogs, but still managed to send a ton of sand flying in their direction.

"Oh, god! I'm so sorry!" She was still laughing and she wasn't quite sure what she was apologizing for: kicking sand all over him or letting the dog run off like he did in order to pounce on him.

[moraldyslexic]

"You are not," Lennox answered with a grin, managing to wrestle both dogs into something resembling submission, although then they just began to play with each other, pouncing and struggling under Lennox's hold on them. "You're just lucky you haven't throw your kid into the mix here, I'm not sure I could handle a child on top of two wild and crazy dogs and you, Pam Halpert. Trouble-maker that you are."

[single_digit]

"You're going to share that, right?" said Eddie, standing there barefoot in the sand and looking down at him. "Cause Lily has Emmy busy for the next few hours and I'm done all the work I'm gonna get done today."

[moraldyslexic]

"I always share with you, man," Lennox answered, tilting his head up to look at Eddie, squinting a little against the sun. "Sit down, my friend, and partake in some of the island's finest pot with me. I can tell you about the plot of that play I'm gonna write now." It had been Eddie's idea in the first place, after all.

[single_digit]

"You're really gonna write it, eh?" said Eddie, plopping down in the sand next to him and reaching for the joint. "You're gonna write a play about curling?"

[moraldyslexic]

Lennox passed the joint over to Eddie willingly, nodding as he grinned. "Yeah, man. No one's done a play for kids, right? I think someone should do one, it'd be great. I think there are gonna be dragons in it and then maybe Gordon can direct it. He'd do that. You can help me write it."